In a response to a query, a Facebook spokesperson said that the features are not being tested yet but will start soon.
Facebook-owned photo sharing platform Instagram will introduce new measures to nudge teenagers away from harmful content and tell them to “take a break” from the platform. The new upcoming measures were discussed by Facebook‘s vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg during CNN’s State of the Union show less than a week after former employee Frances Haugen testified before the Congress about internal Facebook research that showed Instagram can have a negative effect on the mental health of young people.
“We’re going to introduce something which I think will make a considerable difference, which is where our systems see that a teenagers is looking at the same content over and over again, and it’s content which may not be conducive to their well being, we will nudge them to look at other content,” Clegg told CNN. He further said that the company is pausing plans for Instagram Kids and is giving parents optional controls to supervise teens. Further, there is a “Take a Break” feature that will prompt teens to simply take a break from using Instagram.
Clegg didn’t give a timeline for when the feature is expected to roll out. In a response to a query from The Verge, a Facebook spokesperson said that the features are not being tested yet but will start soon.
When asked about Facebook’s algorithm amplifying or spreading pro-insurrection voices ahead of the January 6 US Capitol building riot, Clegg said he couldn’t give a yes or a no answer to the question. Clegg said that Facebook’s algorithms “should be held to account, if necessary, by regulation so that people can match what our systems say they’re supposed to do from what actually happens.”
